


Unexpected turn

by fukamiin



Category: dungeon chasers, dungeon trackers
Genre: M/M, idkk maann this came out of nowhere tbh, it has multiply chapters and---, lucirus, yes i made that up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-04-19 18:37:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4756823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fukamiin/pseuds/fukamiin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes when we're lost, we look for stars to find our way. But what if the sky was dim, and all the stars shone in someone's eyes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello there human being///// welcome to my greatest sin ever///// i've sinned so hard in this i don't even have anything to say---//// But I have to, right? 
> 
> Ahem so yeah i was living my life happily and naturally. But on a day, it was Friday, those thoughts started pouring into my brain and i started writing few HC's for these two---//// and then i ended up writing this sin----///
> 
> So the first chapter is about the plot's background, starting from the second one the relationship built will begin.
> 
> Enjoy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simple base of the story, also characterizing the main duo of this fanfic.

“A new mission succeeded, of course!” breathed the angel champion, Icarus. Work was his passion; he’d do _anything_ to make his mission successful.

‘Mission’ is how he called it, but others seemed to disagree with him. They called it an ‘adventure’, but for him it was a thing that should be done rather than enjoy; he just couldn’t see it.

He works hard everyday; and thus he became the leader of all the teams and creatures his master— or ‘summoner’ as what normal people call it— had owned. He was delightful that he was appreciated this much. Most of the others didn’t like to be in his place because the amount of responsibility they had to take, but for him it was a _huge_ achievement.

He lives for work, for his missions only. But life changes, and so does everyone else.

* * *

 

The summoner, Harutomi, and his team came back with some interesting loot. “A summoning scroll! We’re so lucky today!” breathed the summoner, he couldn’t hide how happy he was, he clutched harder to the item in his hands.

He prepared everything, and the scroll was put to use minutes later. Robust light overwhelmed in mere seconds and blinded the eyes of the audience. It was a fortunate sign of a strong creature arriving. That day, the head of angels, Lucifer, has joined the party.

Icarus was uneasy from the beginning; and now he knew why. _‘The head of angels…’_ he had a feeling that this new comer is going to have his place sooner or later. He even tried to convince himself that he shouldn’t care much since such a creature as Lucifer was indeed worthy of such place, while he was a mere angel that tries so hard.

To everyone’s surprise, the new creature has showed signs of the capability of keeping a greater power within him compared to creatures his level. It was a matter of time before he was the new leader.

Icarus, on the other hand, wasn’t so affected by the new change. Indeed, predicting his replacement helped easing the pain, nevertheless he still was _a little_ bitter. It might have affected his performance slightly at some point, too. However, his confident smirk was gone alongside his motivation to go on ‘adventures’. He thought he wasn’t good enough, _‘but you’re the second strongest creature! You should be happy for that, right?’_ no, he wasn’t. At some point he was the best, now he’s nothing.

His fellow teammates have noticed his state; they tried to cheer him up as much as possible. Succeeded once or twice to make him smile, yet the kid’s state haven’t changed that much.

The creatures made sure to keep a good relationship between each other; they hated to see their colleagueslike this. Some suggested to let Harutomi know, but for them he was only a person to give orders until his goal is achieved. He’s kind and easy to deal with, but growing attached to someone they’re supposed to help for a known amount of time wasn’t a good idea. After all, it’s going to make things harder to deal with when separation will occur. And, would Icarus _really_ be happy if he was the leader all over again this way? Yes, this is the reason they guessed. He became like that after he was replaced, so… it’s the right thing to assume, right?

* * *

 

Night fell on the place of their residence. It was the time for a certain angel to try soothing his mind after another tiring day. Harutomi was an adventurer; which meant that they had to change the place to spend night every once in a while. “The place this time is beautiful… during night at least.”He breathed, not as if there was anyone with him to hear, but it was a stress relief.

“What are you doing here?” a familiar voice came from behind him, “isn’t it a bit late for watching stars?” it was followed by a chuckle.

He sighed, looking at the source of the voice. It was Lucifer, _‘I am not even surprised.’_ He was about to apologize and get up but the other was faster than him and quickly settled besides him.

“Aren’t you lonely?” he asked, “I’ve noticed your condition as well.” He added.

“It’s not like that. I just wanted to have some space… it’s not that big of a deal.” He answered, not looking at the other.

“I see. I haven’t known you and the rest for _that_ much, yet I can tell that there’s something wrong with you.” He gazed at the shorter angel, giving him one of his rare smiles.

Icarus’ eyes glinted for an instant. _‘He… smiled? Have he done that before? I can’t even tell but this is the first time I see him smile… right?’_ his mind was confused, yet he was already used to this confusion. 

“As a leader, I ought to make sure that everyone is doing alright with their trainings, performance, and such. It’s not as if I am implying that you’re defaulting, it’s my responsibility to get closer to you guys as well. And honestly, you’re making that hard for me.” He chuckled.

What he said just now, it was familiar. Where did he hear that before? It feels as if it was long lost already. “Well, you don’t have to get closer to _me_ , I mean I am already doing my best, alright? Please stop acting like a friend of mine; we indeed don’t have much to share.” He got up, aiming to head somewhere else. As an angel, he didn’t need to sleep, but resting for way too long doing nothing is ironically tiring. He just wanted to walk around, but he was stopped. A hand grasped his wrist.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he reproached, “I said it was _late_! I am not allowing you to go anywhere! Harutomi warned me from thugs that take advantage of night-wanderer creatures and capture them. I am not letting that happen.”

“Yes, I _know_ about them; I used to be the leader once, you know?” he snatched his arm off the other’s grip. “I am not weak, alright? I can handle myself.” he tried to keep his voice as low as possible, he didn’t want attention.

“Well, _I am_ the leader now and you ought to obey _me_!” his usual frown came back, and now he seems even angrier.

Icarus exhaled. “Fight me.” Muttering through gritted teeth, he looked into the others eyes.

“What?”

“I said fight me.” he repeated with eagerness filling his voice. “I want to test that new power of yours myself.”

“Kid, are you insane? You won’t even stand a chance!”

“I am not a kid—,”

“You look like one, then.” He interrupted, a smirk tugged his lips.

“You’re not even taking me seriously…” he gazed to the ground, now upset. “Not ever since then…”

“Ever since… what?” now concerned, he stepped closer to other, his hand now resting on Icarus’ shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Again, Lucifer’s hand was brushed off. “Never mind that, I am heading home…”

“Fine.” He followed the shorter angel, feeling a tad more worried over him. However, it irritated him how he was treated by Icarus recently. _‘Well, I think it can’t be helped. Can it…?’_

* * *

 

It saddened him. When he was brought here for the first time he tried as much as possible to distant himself from others. _‘Order me and I’ll obey. This is all what I am concerned about.’_ Indeed, why would he bother having friends at all? At least, that’s what he thought.

He was all cold with his teammates. Believing that all what had put them together is serving the summoner; he didn’t even bother having any kind of conversation with any of them unless it was work-related. Of course back then Icarus was the leader. The leader was the one to deliver orders that came from the summoner himself, and so he might have had to speak with him more than often.

 _‘He was a hard worker… even until now.’_ He admired how much he worked to make everything near the word ‘perfect’. And at some point, it influenced him as well.

 _‘A good leader is the one to have a good relationship with his fellows,’_ he remember him saying that. _‘I am not the one to order you about how you want to live your life, but I think you need to spend a little more time with everyone else! Believe me, they’re nice. Kinda crazy, but in a good way!’_ he remembered the smile that tugged his lips that day, it wasn’t his usual confident smirk, rather, it was a purer one. _‘Also, you’re the head of angels! You need to work more on your communication skills.’_ And then he left. It probably was the longest conversation he ever had with him before, and it was a life-changing.

Bit by bit, his words sunk into him. He started to believe in Icarus’ words and slowly he managed to speak with everyone else. Well, he’s still awkward about it until now, but at least he reached a place he thought it only existed in his fantasizes. “He helped me once. I can do the same. No, I _have_ to!”

Those were morals he believed in; to be serious about work and at the same time have fun with everyone else. But now he sees nothing of that in him anymore. It pissed him off, _‘where’s that one person? Why have you changed? I don’t get it.’_ He thought as he watched Icarus walking on front of him towards their home.


	2. Relationship built

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some events also new creatures mentioned in this! the duo's relationship is starting to develop more and more starting from here as well.

For the next few days, Lucifer had made a mental promise to himself to talk Icarus out of his condition, and so he stuck to Icarus’ side as much as possible. He tried making side comments and conversations about anything he could think of. However, the other was quite uninterested. _‘That won’t let me down just yet.’_ He thought.

“Stop it.” he clenched his fists.

“Huh?”

“Stop following me around; you’re annoying!” said the shorter angel through gritted teeth.

Lucifer considered a moment before replying, “What’s your problem, anyway? I am just trying to be nice to you here.”

“Don’t lie to me, I know you all petty me,” he sighed. “Just stop it. Someone like _you_ shouldn’t be around someone like _me_.”

“But… why? Why are you like this? What exactly did change you that much?” He reached to Icarus’ wrist and grabbedit, Icarus shivered in response, struggled to let it free, and failed. As he looked up to complain, his eyes met a stern look that froze him in place. “Just who are you exactly?”

“W, what? I—,” before he could say anything, the other gave his wrist one more squeeze before letting it free.

“The person I met when I first came here is _much_ different! You know, he was much fun to be around. I’d like him to be back.” That was said and then Icarus was left alone in a state of confusion.

However, Lucifer’s words echoed in the back of his head. He… changed that much? _‘I didn’t even notice…’_

For the rest of the day, Icarus was in deep thought. “What have I done…” he realized, just now, that he shouldn’t have acted like that. Indeed, his teammates were more like friends to him. And when Lucifer arrived, he taught him about those feelings. And now look at him, acting the exact opposite of what he used to believe in before. He shouldn’t have treated his friends like that at all.

A hand clutched to his chest, a strange feeling had overwhelmed him. It was unbearable and new to him. His throat was sore, he was guilty.

* * *

 

The next day they had a new dungeon to explore. At first, all the creatures they fought were quite weak, most of Harutomi’s team members were confident that the boss was the same. But oh how wrong they were.

The boss was quite strong it only took mere seconds for Icarus and Lucifer to find themselves the last standing. Everyone else fell to heavy injuries— not bad enough to kill them, however.

“They s, seem quite tired! I th, think they’re close to fall.” Said Icarus, panting.

“Maybe a hit, or two. I think we still have a chance.” Replied Lucifer. His body was sweaty, but compared to the other angel he was in a little better shape than him.

As soon as they finished talking, Icarus dashed forward and pointed his sword towards the enemy. However, the creature dodged it and aimed their death strike towards Icarus. He knew that if he was hit by this he won’t be able to fight anymore.

He squeezed his eyes shut, welcoming pain with opened arms. He heard a form of liquid pouring down his feet, he expected it to be blood, but he felt nothing. He could clearly hear the enemy’s blade hitting something and impaling it. It was flesh.

When he had enough courage, he cracked opened his eyes. The blood on the ground wasn’t his, he was sure of it. There was a figure standing before him, blocking the attack. It was Lucifer. He got impaled by the enemy’s blade, he was bleeding badly.

Icarus’ eyes widened as he realized what had occurred.

The enemy quickly pulled their blade back which caused the injury to worsen. It was a matter of time before Lucifer fell down.

However, Icarus took advantage of the enemy’s unprepared position and attacked. A hit, two, and three. The enemy soon was done for. _‘I knew it.’_

Icarus looked back away from the body laying before him. His teammates were all severely injured, however, they still could stand. They all gathered around Lucifer and helped him to stand. They all went back home to heal up, nevertheless, Lucifer’s condition was worrisome. Icarus had bad injurie too, but thanks to him, they weren’t as bad as the rest.

Harutomi gathered his healer creatures and let them do the job. In seconds, everyone was back on their feet, filled with energy. Except a certain angel. It took him much longer to heal. ‘ _That bastard had poison all over his blade, no one was affected by the poison but you.’_ Said a healer with a deep voice. _‘You poor thing.’_ Replied another, _‘It must have spread inside your body, but don’t worry! You’re strong. All what is it going to do is slowing you down!’_ Icarus, who was settled nearby on purpose, overheard the healers talking.

_‘I suggest you to rest for the day, I don’t think Harutomi is planning to go on anymore adventures today.’_ Smiled another healer. It was Tsubaki, she specialized mostly in healing water type creatures. However, she was skillful enough to be trusted with Lucifer’s condition. She smiled at the hospitalized angel and walked away from the bed he rest upon. On her way she noticed Icarus, who was still sitting on a bed around despite the fact that his wounds healed completely.

She settled besides him and ruffled his hair.

“ _Stop that!_ ” groaned the angel, his act was met with a chuckle from the healer.

“You feel guilty? Karina told me about what happened back there. I was surprised, to be honest. I didn’t expect that from him! I think he hid a soft a heart under that gloomy frown he had.” A smile tugged her lips as she said so.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect that, either.” He muttered in response. “I think he changed… to the best at least. Unlike me.”

“Oooh, come on! Don’t make that face. I understand why you felt down recently. You probably were unprepared for such change. But you need to know that it doesn’t minimize your worth. In fact, you should keep on working as hard as before, that’s exactly what made you special in the first place.” She hummed, “I really wanted to tell you that long time ago!” she patted his shoulder once more before getting off the bed.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” She stretched her arms. “By the way,”

“Hmm?”

“I think you should thank him.” She didn’t wait for a response and left.

“…”

* * *

 

He probably didn’t feel it, but an hour or so had passed ever since his conversation with Tsubaki ended. He was waiting for the right time to approach the archangel. He couldn’t translate his current feelings, but the only thing he was sure of is that he didn’t want to go there at all. He felt uneasy for the first time in so long. He played few scenes in his head and they all ended miserably.

But he had to, anyways. It just felt wrong ignoring the whole situation after all what happened.

_‘The cold-hearted archangel, this is the only way most of us referred to you when you arrived.’_ He stepped closer to the angel’s bed. _‘Is now lying in bed. Sever injuries caused by a poisoned blade.’_ One more step and he was near the bed’s side. _‘The blade probably had some sort of a spell that made it sharp enough to cut through your metal armor.’_ The other’s eyes were closed, but Icarus highly doubted that he’s unconscious. _‘I didn’t expect you to be that much of an idiot, but my doubts were all cleared today. How can you be so carefree? Idiot.’_ He clicked his tongue as he pulled the other’s sleeve to get his attention.

Lucifer was lying so quietly and peacefully. He probably was trying to clear his mind, or it might be the poison’s effect. His armor, however, had a cut where the blade strike was back in the battle. Of course those creatures needed different methods when it came to medical treatments. If Lucifer was a human, he might have needed to get his wound stitched and have bandages all over his torso, but he needed none of that. It was a simple spell and special healing methods and he was healthy all over again— well, expect for the poison, of course. Whether he was unconscious or not, the tug to his sleeve pretty much succeeded in bringing him back to the real world.

He blinked several times before his vision was cleared, “well, if it wasn’t Icarus. I am flattered to find you here. Are you worried over me?” He smiled.

Icarus rolled his eyes, “I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am here only to ask why you did what you have done.”

“Aahh, done what exactly?”

“Don’t play dumb. I am talking about what you did in today’s battle. I mean… taking the hit instead of me…”

“Ah, you must have misunderstood. I didn’t do that for you,”

“I know. I am actually pretty sure of that—,”

“Let me finish, please. I was aiming to strike myself and that spot looked perfect to finish that jerk off. I was just way too slow.” He coughed. “I didn’t want to let you have all the glory, after all.”

“I see. Don’t stress yourself too much, I’ll leave you for now to rest.” He turned and started stepping away from where Lucifer was, yet he stopped midway and looked back. “Come back as soon as you can.” He smiled, “we’re waiting for you— at least maybe the others are.”

“Of course. I am not _that_ weak to let such stupid poison kill me.” He assured. _‘He smiled. I am so glad— I still don’t understand why am I feeling so relieved by that.’_ He thought.

 “And I am sure of that.” He then left.

* * *

 

As Icarus was outside, the smile on his face faded. _‘I cannot believe he lied. That wasn’t an attacking pose at all…’_ Flashbacks presented in the back of his head, _‘yes. I am 100% sure that was a defense pose… But why? Was it… for me?’_  He shook his head, “what am I thinking. He must have had another reason to do that.” He stretched his arms and walked off, “I’ll believe what he said for now, until I find out the real reason.” He muttered.

Awhile after that he remembered something important; _‘shoot! I didn’t thank him for that! Despite it not being for my sake, of course. But oh well, tomorrow is another day.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the beginning was a little fast based but ah i am trying not to make this fic way too boring so pls be patient with me ^ ^;;
> 
> comments/kudos/support is welcomed greatly!!


	3. A strange feeling.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything starts to get awkward! ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long chapter!! Yaay!!!   
> hope u will have fun~~

As his healing was complete, Lucifer was finally allowed to return to battlefield. During fights he’d keep a straight face, but after everything was done, he’d act more comfortable around others. He’s much easier to deal with now, and everyone noticed that.

However, he was mostly around Icarus when he didn’t have anything better to do. To his surprise, Icarus was now accepting his company better than before. He expected him to brush off conversations, to not respond when asked a non-work related question, but he didn’t. He’d go along with conversations and actually start them himself sometimes. His gloomy mood was seemingly gone by now, Lucifer was glad for that.

Old Icarus was back, after all. He felt as if he had done a great achievement, even though he doubted he was the reason why. _‘But who cares?’_

* * *

 

Harutomi had traveled with everyone else from the previous place after that battle and decided to settle nearby a beautiful forest. It was filled with water and wood creatures. They were peaceful and didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking the adventurers; Harutomi decided it wasn’t necessary to kill them.

Icarus and his fellow wood creatures were enjoying their stay very much, _‘the perfect land.’_ He thought, _‘it’s much better than the other one!’_ indeed, they stayed at an abandoned temple the last time. It was filled with dark creatures, but those ones were violent and immediately attacked as soon as they arrived. They had to kill most of them to prevent their violence from reaching human citizen.

The summoner’s job was to make sure that won’t happen. And since Harutomi lacked experience; he was unable to send those creatures back to their home. However, he could send reports to the “Tower of Summoners” to take care of the situation.

Icarus decided to rest for a while; his trainings drained all the remaining energy he had for the day. He found a spot under a _huge_ tree. It blocked most of the sunshine and cooled the weather a bit in process.

He lied on the grass and closed his eyes. His short, light-green hair blended perfectly with the shades underneath him. He felt as if he was back home. _‘This place… looks nothing like my real home…’_

He enjoyed the feeling of cool breeze gently blowing against his skin. The sound of chirping birds and waterfalls soothed him. It was just so peaceful. He wished that would last forever, but…

_Crunch, crunch._ Footsteps were approaching.

He opened his eyes to someone gazing at him from above. “Ah, it’s you.”

“What’s with that tone? Aren’t you happy to see me?” said the archangel as he settled besides Icarus’ head. “I am bored.”

“Do I look like an entertainment robot to you or something?” he gave an annoyed look.

“No, you idiot,” he held Icarus nose between his index and middle finger. “I just wanted to check on you.” He let it go, “I thought you may have had something better to do.”

“Well, too bad I didn’t.” Icarus said as he rubbed his now reddish nose, “ugh that hurt.”

Lucifer moved to sit next to him and smirked. “Sorry, sorry. I forgot how delicate you are.”

“Shut up!” pouting, he turned to the opposite side. He lied on his wing to do so— which didn’t hurt at all unlike the first time he tried it. He was now giving Lucifer his back.

Lucifer couldn’t help but to laugh at Icarus’ reaction.

“You can leave, though. I am just trying to rest a bit. I can’t hangout right now.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I think I’ll stick around for the time being.” He lied on his back and moved his head slightly to gaze at the other angel.

Icarus was having his now-upper wing covering his body like a blanket of some sort. Lucifer wondered if he liked to be surrounded by his wings like that. _‘It’s an odd way to rest, if you ask me.’_ Did he feel safe that way? Who knows? Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t.

He was sure of one thing, however. He was sure that he had such beautiful wings. They were wide and had long, dense and pure-white feathers. As for Lucifer, he had six of them, but they had less feathers and a yellowish shade instead. He didn’t think of that before. But he surely found them pretty— compared to his own.

To be fair, there was also another angel that had the exact same type of wings. It was Angela. She was around Icarus’ age, probably. And honestly, they looked very similar. Lucifer wondered if they were related somehow. However, he never heard Icarus talking about her before. _‘These two have such beautiful wings, then.’_

As he finished admiring the other, his gaze turned to the sky— well, it was wholly covered with tree branches. However, he still thought the spot that Icarus chose was beautiful.

“Hey,” a sound disturbed his peaceful time. It was no one other than Icarus himself. “Thank you.”

“Huh? For what?”

“… Never mind.”

“Oh, c’mon _on_! This is the first time you ever showed gratitude to me~” he moved to the side, placing his elbow on the ground and pressed his cheek against his palm. He had to move a little to make his wings comfortable.

“I _said_ it was nothing!” he turned on his back, slightly moving his head to the side and gazed at the other. As soon as he saw him grinning and positioned like that, he got up. Heat was rushing to his face, for some reason. He really wanted to thank him about the other day; he still haven’t forgot about it. But then he remembered Lucifer saying that _it wasn’t for him_ , so what’s the point? “I am going back, come along if you want.”

“I’ll follow you in a while.” He said, keeping his position as it is.

“As you wish,” smiled Icarus. “Harutomi have some apple jelling back there and I am not missing those out! See ya.” He run off, excited.

* * *

 

As sun faded in the horizon, Lucifer had decided to finally show up. _‘I only wanted to have some time to clear my mind! I didn’t expect it would take that long… now it’s getting late…’_

When he walked in, rubbing the back of his head in frustration, a fellow had called his name from behind. “Oh, hello there, Sophia.” He smiled.

Sophia was a strong wood sorceress, she was in Icarus’ wood team as well. She seemed to have a good relationship with her teammates. She had long, wavy blond hair and a pair of beautiful emerald eyes. When she was very young she was separated from her sisters. Each one was sent to either learn the magic of water, fire, or wood. Harutomi found her when she a new magic student. He tried—and still trying—to find and bring back her sisters, but luck wasn’t by his side to this day.

Sophia now had become a young adult in search of her family.

“Did you possibly need something?” it was odd for her to talk to Lucifer out of the blue.

“Not really~ I was wondering if you have seen Icarus around.”

“I am afraid I haven’t. He was with me in the forest a couple of hours ago— he didn’t come back yet?”

“Well, I haven’t seen him ever since morning~” a gentle smile tugged her lips. “He seemed to like hanging out a lot lately, huh?” the gentleness was replaced by a malicious smirk as she kept on talking. “Especially around _you_ ~”

“Yeah, I guess we’re having fun together.” He shrugged his shoulders.

Her smirk widened. “Exactly. You two are having such good relationship, which is a good thing.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have been able to open up to any of you without his help.” His expression was gentle. He was _happy_ saying that.

She nodded, “you know, before you came, Icarus was all serious about his work—he still is, though. He was always seeking the leader position—I never understood why. But he was so thrilled when he finally became the leader.”

“Wait— you mean that—,”

“Yes, I guessed that was the reason why he got all depressed for the past few weeks. Well, considering his personality, of course he’d. Maybe he felt that he have been replaced—but what do I know about life… lol. He never told me or anyone else about that, though.” She smiled.

“I see…” he muttered. Of course, _she_ spent more time with him, and of course he would’ve never been able to guess. He felt so stupid right now, even though he can’t help it. A slight thought passed his mind before he was interrupted by a poke to his arm.

“Hello? Earth to Lucifer?”

“Oh—,” he cleared his throat. “I am sorry. Did you have anything else to add?”

“Yes. And I think we should move to somewhere private first.” Her malicious grin was back.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Icarus avoided going back home for a reason he couldn’t catch. _‘Why am I so uneasy?’_ when he attempted returning to get the apple jelling, he stopped midway. For some reason, when he approached their home his pulse started acting weird. Besides that, he felt heat rushing to his face for a mere second— the warmth didn’t last long before a gentle breeze did it job by replacing the temperature.  

The place he called “home” was more like a camp— but the thing is: they didn’t use tents at all! It was a spot to meet up before going to their actual place of staying.

When the summoner decided to leave for adventures, he knew he’d have to handle the creatures he’s aiming to “own”. He had to make sure that they have a place to return to at the end of the day— a place for them to rest or even sleep if they need to. At first, he used a light-blue wrap stone to be able to return to his own house no matter how far he travels. And as he collected more creatures; he connected more wrap stones to different empty voids. Each void saved a limited piece of land that’d keep his creatures comfortable when they’re free.

And so, that “camp” was the spot where six wrap stones were placed. One of them was bigger than the others—it was used to reach Harutomi’s house, of course. That one was in the middle, surrounded by the rest of stones. Those stones are colored in: red, blue, green, yellow, and purple. Each color represented a specified location that suited each type of creatures. If they wanted to leave; Harutomi would use a spell to minimize the stones’ sizes and keep them safe with him along the trip.

Just by touching a small stone and chanting few lines you find yourself in a whole different world! Magic made everything much easier for everyone, honestly.

So now, if Icarus wanted to go to his place, he’d stand before the green stone chant a spell. In a blink of an eye, he’d find himself in a beautiful forest. Its boundaries are limited, though. It was more like a floating piece of land, hung up in the sky. And when you look down, you can’t tell what’s going to be waiting for you because of the thick clouds that blocked the view. He appreciates what Harutomi did for them, but he really disliked this place. He hated being there most of the time; it felt like being bottled up. He wondered if he was the only one feeling like that. Even if he tried to fly he’d hit an invisible wall at some point.

He spends night there with his fellows. Of course, most of them would be already asleep, however, he always had his ways to get through each night. Sometimes, he’d sneak out and meet up with Lucifer. They’d either wander in other voids, or go to the outside world itself. Harutomi would scold them if he found out so they kept it as their little secret.

Despite all of that, he _really_ didn’t want to go. He really didn’t want to move any step further; he froze in place, eyes dull and focused on the “camp” before him.

“Are you looking for Lucifer?”

Icarus jumped. His heart skipped a beat. “W, what—,” he turned to face a creature standing behind him.

It was Karina. Another blondie with greenish eyes. She’s one of the few creatures that almost looked exactly like a normal human—Sophia was one of them, too. The only difference, however, was that she’s an archer. She specialized in attaching with strong light arrows, while Sophia was a witch, wearing that famous witch hat and holding her magic wand all the time. “Ho, ho. Your face is all red! So cute!” she pinched his cheek lightly.

“What do _you_ want?” He groaned, rubbing his cheek in frustration.

“Aww, don’t be angry. I was just playing around!”

“I know, I know.” He sighed. “Sorry for overreacting. Did you need something?” a gentle smile arose his face. However, he was unable to look into her eyes.

“Are you alright? I didn’t really need anything in particular, but since I saw you standing still like a statue I thought about checking on you.”

“I see. And I am fine, don’t worry.” _‘Everyone is checking on me today, wow…’_

“All righty! Let’s get going it’s getting dark!” she walked happily past Icarus, thinking that he’d follow suit— but he didn’t. As she glanced back at him, noticing that he seemed unsure of something.

“Hey, Karina…”

“What is it?” she stepped closer.

“You spent more time around humans than I did, right?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t the best thing, though. I had to deal with a lot of idiots. I have no idea how can Harutomi handle them sometimes!”

He hummed in response. “Then, you might have the answer.”

“The answer? Huh?”

“I feel… so weird lately. Like, I can’t think straight anymore. My mind is busy thinking about something— someone. I don’t understand it. I have so much fun when they’re around… but as they leave I start feeling uneasy all over again.” He raised his head to look at the archer. She was listening closely, her face was straight and serious— now that’s a thing he didn’t expect to find. “Erm—I asked someone and they told me that I had a _feeling_ for them. They didn’t know what the feeling was and suggested me to ask Harutomi since he’s a human and—they know better about those things…” he scratched the back of his neck and muttered. “ _Right_. Imagine that; _me_ going to ask _him_ about feelings—it’d be so awkward…”

She laughed, “I think it’s because you’re not used to open up to others that much, huh? Anyways, I felt that you were having some hard time lately and maybe I can help! Talking everything out surely _does_ help!” her smile was now gentle and warm. “Consider me you older sister and tell me everything that bothers you!”

“… Right. So um—, maybe we should sit around somewhere else, first.”

“That’s a good idea!”

They found a spot nearby where they can talk freely, hoping not be interrupted. Icarus glanced at the sky and felt as if he can clear his mind a little bit now.

“So,” she was the one who started talking. “That person— what do you think about them?”

“I… don’t know? They’re fine, I guess.”

“Come on! There must be something different that happens when that special person is around!”

“S, special?! I never said that—,”

“It’s _heavily_ implied from the way you talked about them. So, you didn’t answer my question!”

Just then, Icarus has regretted starting this topic at all. But it was too late to retreat. “My heart does that weird thing? I don’t know what it’s called. And my stomach does… a weird thing as well. I don’t know, am I getting sick?”

Karina couldn’t help but to laugh a little bit. She seemed quite happy— as if she discovered something big. “You know, when Harutomi was still a newbie he’d let us go to his house— there was barely 5 of us back then! Back then, he was still working on those wrap stones for us; so we stayed at some empty rooms he had there~” she glanced at the other. Sun was setting and everything was tainted with shades of yellow and orange. Icarus’ golden eyes shined.

She continued, “he had lots of books and I got interested in them. At some point I found myself finishing the last book he had—he didn’t have much, though. And then he taught me about somewhere called _the library_ and there I could read as much as I wanted!” she cleared her throat. “That’s when I started interacting with humans more. And those books helped me understand things I didn’t know they ever existed—like feelings. I was so happy about discovering that; I’d go home and tell everyone about new things I read. I was shocked that they already knew about it—I mean feelings. But listening to you, I realized that I might not be the only one who wasn’t familiar with those stuff.” She grinned.

Icarus’ cheeks reddened. “Hey!”

She laughed, “it’s not a bad thing not to know! I think it was meant for both of us to find out someday~”

“Okay, this story… how can it help me, now?”

“I am getting there. Some of these books described some sort of a feeling similar to the one bother you. I am not quite sure, but—I think it’s called _love_.”

“Love?” he titled his head slightly, eyes filled with curiosity.

“It’s like the feeling you have towards your friends! You love them and so you protect them. You don’t like to see them sad or injured. You even teach them things they need and never fall short on that—I noticed that in you back when we were in the same team! But when it comes to _that one person_ it’s different!”

“How is it?” he adjusted his position, giving Karina all of his attention.

“Um—Your eyes sparkle when you see them. Your heart skips a beat and butterflies tickle your stomach from the inside—,”

“I never ate butterflies before, though…”

“…” her smile dropped as she gave Icarus a tired expression. “Let me finish. That was just a representation.”

“Oh.”

“You still have so much to learn, my friend.” She sighed, “Anyway, when you’re with them you feel happy— extra happy, if I can tell. Also, time passes quickly just then. You wish you could give them all the happiness in the world! Ah—my description is a bit poor but—have you felt something like that towards that person?”

“… Yes.” He admitted. “Now that you mentioned it… I think that’s how I feel towards them… but is it bad?”

“Nope~ not at all!”

He got up and attempted to leave.

“W, wait! Where are you going?”

“To tell them, of course.”

“Heeeeeh! Not so quickly! Aren’t you supposed to wait a bit? To… make sure they feel the same towards you?”

“Does it matter? I am just telling them it’s not like it’s going to make any difference.”

She grabbed his wrist, “we still have _much_ more to learn. My god.” She placed her free hand on her forehead. “Let’s go to your place and talk~”

“All right. Aren’t you going to sleep, though?”

“Nah, I don’t _need_ to sleep _much_ often, you know.”

As she finished talking, she dragged Icarus back home. Night fell minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rip;;; idk how this turned out like this tbh ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ sorry if somethings were cliched ah////


	4. Dark VS Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he thought things were getting better...

That night, neither of the young angels managed to be at rest.

What they heard from their teammates felt like a rock weighting their chests. _‘Feelings’_ was it really something necessary of them to learn? Was it _that_ important? They didn’t feel such uneasiness except when they’re about to face a strong creature in a fight— or that they had something _very_ important to deal with. But now, a simple sentence, name, or even the sight of the other could make them uneasy. It could make their hearts beat so fast as if they were exhausted after a rough day. It could make them stutter their words, and wander in thoughts.

It felt… wrong.

It felt _so_ wrong to have such an urge to run away from someone so dear to oneself. To hide and never show up before them. To keep admiring them from a distance but never approach.

Funny how the bravest can become so weak when it comes to such conditions, known as _love_.

 ...

Sunshine filled up the voids, each one with the sun—or suns— that existed in the original world of each. The fire attribute enjoyed strong heat coming not from one, but _three_ flaming stars. The dark attribute barely had any rays of light reaching their land—comparing to the rest of voids—they enjoyed the coolness and eeriness that the place offered them. The light attribute had one _huge_ sun with smaller stars floating around it, while both the water and wood had a balanced atmosphere and warmth that was near what a normal human can handle.

As morning arrived, most creatures were already up; ready to practice and go on a new adventure. Everyone seemed energetic— _almost_ everyone. A certain couple of angels didn’t feel the same, at all.

Considering that they don’t need to sleep, anyone that could have seen them could swear they had bad insomnia last night.

…

_‘Was is worthy to know?’_

Icarus bite his lower lip roughly; it bled. ‘ _I can’t even stay around him. Was it really worthy?’_ the angel was confused in a way he never tasted before. Whenever he looked at Lucifer—no, even a mere thought of him could make Icarus’ pulse do crazy things _._ Honestly, he didn’t know if he liked this or not. If he wanted to strangle Karina right now or not. He was simply _so_ confused. He was lost in thought until someone finally decided to approach and interrupt. “You okay?” a familiar voice ringed in Icarus’ ears; he quivered.

“Y, yes!”

“… you sure? You don’t seem like it.” A gentle smile plastered over Harutomi’s lips. “You know, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to take a break for the day—,”

“No! I am fine, really!” having a break means more free time to think about unnecessary things… all day long. The thought itself managed to get him a headache, the poor thing.

“If you say so.” He ruffled the angels light-green hair playfully, “your partner for today is going to be the usual~ he’s going to show up at any moment now.”

“No, no! wait—I, errm—,” before he could add anything, Harutomi had left. He inhaled deeply and held it for a second. _‘It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re gonna be fine. Just… calm down. Focus on your breathing.’_

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

Someone patted his shoulder lightly, he almost didn’t feel it.  “Leave me just for a few seconds—,” he replied.

_Inhale._

“Icarus…” the voice came out raspy, as if the owner didn’t talk since the morning.

He held his breath in, eyes wide when he realized who was standing behind him. He _had_ to turn to face the last person he wanted to meet right now in particular. “L, Lucifer!”

“Yes? Why do you sound so surprised~ it’s our daily training time~” he smiled and reached to pinch the other’s cheek. However, Icarus moved away before he could touch him.

“Ah—, I’ll go take my position.” And just like that, he walked away a bit _too fast_. Lucifer felt something was off about Icarus, he doubted it can be the same reason. He, too, had uneasiness overwhelm him most of the day. ‘ _But—, nah, it can’t be… right?’_

It felt like forever; but the training finally ended. It took way too long to end, they both felt it. It didn’t go so well, however. It was obvious they were holding back. They made as little progress as possible and then Lucifer suggested to stop. He knew they weren’t going anywhere by being… like this.

Both thought that that’s going to last for a day, or two. But at the same time, both had misjudged the situation.

Ten days. Ten long days. That’s how long it lasted.

…

On a clear day, evening arrived, and along with it came the summoner and his water team; he had gone to a new area filled with fire creatures, after all. Between shy glances and awkward staring, the angels had barely talked—if not at all. For once, Icarus was glad Lucifer’s attribute didn’t match him; at least now he can have some space and time to _rest_.

But no, of course not. That thought was too perfect to be real.

Icarus was dragged somewhere not too far from the main wrap stone. “Did you need something?” he whispered, avoiding the eyes or the archangel.

“Yes—I mean no.” Lucifer cleared his throat, “I just… wanted to talk with you… about something.” He, too, was having bad time matching the other’s gaze.

“C, can we do it another day? I am… tired right now!” he quickly turned on his heels, “Yes. I gotta go, excuse m—,”

A hand reached to his arm, desperately begging him to stop moving away. Icarus tensed at the touch. Unable to know what to do anymore, the champion froze in his place.

“—it,”

“What?”

“Stop ignoring me… just stop it already.”

“I didn’t mean to—,”

“Whatever, you did it anyway. Whether you wanted it or not.” Lucifer roughly grabbed the other by the shoulders, forcing him to spin and finally looking into his eyes. “Doesn’t it hurt you as well? To be so lonely…” his tone changed. “It reminded me of old, bitter days that I wished to forget about… forever.” He whispered.

Icarus’ eyes widened. “Lucifer… I am sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you that way…”

Lucifer gazed to the side for a moment, as if he was trying to take a hold of himself before spitting anything that shouldn’t be said. His grip on Icarus loosened. “Sorry for making it… so dramatic. I understand if you’re not willing to spend time with me anymore.” He smiled, but he wasn’t happy. “I’ll go back now.” His smile was bittersweet.

He left.

Icarus couldn’t describe how he felt. He could only watch the archangel walking away. _‘No…’_ for an instant, he felt so weak; his legs could fail to hold him up anymore at any moment. _‘Don’t go…’_ he didn’t understand why, but his legs started moving on their own all of a sudden. The weakness he felt turned into an urge to rush to the archangel and hug him. An urge to tell him how much he meant to him. An urge to apologize a thousand times for hurting him so coldly for the past week.

On the other hand, Lucifer stopped right in front of the wrap stone. _‘Would it really be alright to leave him alone? What if… something happened?’_ he worried for Icarus, for sure. But the other reason he never touched the stone, murmuring his spell to _go home_ was because he had the tiniest bit of hope left, stopping him to proceeding furthermore. He hoped that something—anything could happen right now. He was torn between wanting to ignore everything to leave this place and going back to Icarus.

He stretched his hand towards the stone, inhaled slowly to prepare himself to chant the spell…

But then, skinner arms wrapped around his waist from behind. “Stop… walking way too fast!” the champion was panting, his head pressed against Lucifer’s back. The warm air escaping his mouth through pants barely warmed one spot in Lucifer’s back.

 _‘… Icarus?’_ oh boy, you don’t know how fricking happy the archangel was upon hearing those words. A goofy smile spread across his face; he was unbelievably happy!

Lucifer’s hand gently reached to the ones around his waist, patting them lightly. He took a moment to appreciate the difference in their hands sizes. He was enjoy this intimating moment _a lot_.

When he felt the other’s pants calming, he unlatched his hands and turned to face Icarus who immediately shied his sight away, his face flustered. “Um, I am not sure what just happened but—,”

As if whatever he wanted to say wasn’t so important; Lucifer reached to the other’s occiput, gently guiding it to all the way until his head was pressed gently against his own chest. Icarus felt a rush of adrenaline making his pulse start acting weird—he almost forgot that feeling by now.

Instead of pulling back away, Icarus adjusted his head to be comfortable. His hands were grabbed and guided to be wrapped around Lucifer’s waist. Lucifer, then, did the same.

“W, what are you—,”

“Shh. It feels better this way.” He closed his eyes and leaned a bit to rest his chin on top of Icarus’ head. The archangel felt his heartbeat matching the others. It was unbalanced, filled them with heat, and lastly, it made them happy. So happy.

Lucifer couldn’t wipe that goofy smile off his face for the next five minutes.

“We… should go back… now…”

“Mmhmm, ok.”

…

“Aaah~ Sophiaaa~~…” Karina threw herself on the witch from behind. The sudden weight added to the witch’s back startled her; it almost made them both fall down.

Karina loosely wrapped her arms around Sophia’s neck and sighed.

“W, what’s wrong?” she breathed, her face flustered.

“It have been, what, _an entire week_ already? The two didn’t even talk once! Or at least that’s what I _didn’t_ see them doing _at all_!” she buried her face in Sophia’s fluffy hair, “was it a bad idea…?” her voice had a tad of sadness in it.

Since Karina was a bit shorter than her, Sophia grabbed the archer’s wrists, pulled them to the front and leaned in progress. “It’s weird to hear you say sad things like that~ cheer up!” Karina’s feet were hanged in the air until the witch’s hands gave up and finally let her down. Sophia turned to face her, cupping the archer’s face. “No matter what I’ve seen of the love birds; I still believe that we did the right thing… you see… I think we just _told_ them what was going on, you know, to shorten the period they might have needed to realize or even _discover_ how they _feel_ about each other!” she smiled, leaving Karina’s face.

“I mean, what happened was meant to happen at some point, anyway. Just give them some time and we’ll see what’s gonna happen next.”

Karina smiled, holding Sophia’s hand and giving it a light squeeze. “Thank you… hehe.”

Sophia barely heard those words; her mind travelled to that day she talked to Lucifer about the _thing_.

It was tragic; she couldn’t help but to chuckle. _‘Poor thing~ I hope he’ll find a way talk to Icarus again…’_ she felt guilty, too. But she preferred to ignore it and wait. She intertwined her fingers with Karina, gesturing to her to move to somewhere else. Karina nodded.

“By the way~”

“Hmm?”

“I heard Harutomi found your sisters! Congrats!”

Sophia nodded happily, “yes! I am so happy, too! I still haven’t seen them yet, for some reason. I wonder why is Harutomi keeping me from meeting them… after all those years…”

…

The duo spent the night at Lucifer’s place. He had a ‘special’ one away from other nosy creatures. It was on the top of the only mountain there, it was an abandoned temple, with plants growing and covering its walls and decorations. The furniture was left to decay by the hands of time to what it seemed to be a century or so.

Lucifer used his light spires and lined them together to close some fallen walls, they’d disappear in a few hours when their energy is drained, though. But they were enough to give him and Icarus more privacy. He prayed that no one saw them getting together inside… they wouldn’t shut up about it. He scratched the back of his head lightly upon the thought.

They nuzzled most of the night, talked a bit about themselves, and confessed their feelings at some point. Everything was awkward at first, but they soon got used to it. Light creatures, such as Lucifer, had their own warmth coming from their core. It helped them not to freeze when moving to high places.

Alas, wood creatures didn’t. Which to Lucifer’s luck, Icarus _had_ to stick to his side. He suggested leaving this place and search for somewhere else near the land, but Icarus refused.

Maybe he didn’t want to waste time, maybe he didn’t want to leave Lucifer’s warmth. Whether this or that, Lucifer decided not to ask.

Lucifer had discovered new things, like, how soft Icarus’ skin was. He couldn’t get enough of touching his face, kissing his forehead, and holding his hand. He just wanted to try one last thing… but…

“Hey, Icarus…”

The champion was resting his head on Lucifer’s thigh when he was disturbed. “Hmm?”

Lucifer’s hand moved to play with Icarus hair lovingly, “never mind.”

“… Say it. What do you want?”

“I, it’s _nothing_!” he gazed to the side, his cheeks reddened.

Icarus reached to Lucifer’s chin, lightly spinning it; their eyes met, golden with chocolate-brown.

“Fine… errm, there’s… one more thing I’d like to try…”

“And what is it?” he smiled, adjusting himself to sit next to the archangel. He tried to not keep a distance to get as much warmth as possible from the other.

Lucifer scratched the back of his neck, “I, I want to k, kiss you…”

“But? You already did that before?” he titled his head.

“… On the lips…”

“Oh… then, go ahead, I guess.”

“Close your eyes…”

Icarus did as told. “I am ready~”

Lucifer’s hand reached to Icarus’ cheek as he leaned in, Icarus tensed up. Their faces were bright red as they felt each other’s breath. Lucifer’s lips were centimeters away from Icarus’, _‘just… a bit… more’_ he closed his eyes too…

Eventually, he froze and gave up; it was too hard for him. He quickly pulled away, a hand covering his mouth.

Icarus opened his eyes due the sudden chill, “m, maybe we can try… another time…” strangely, he was glad that they didn’t _kiss_.

Rays of sunshine started to break its way through the windows and the tiny spaces between the spires that soon started to vanish as well. Icarus gave Lucifer one last hug, “I gotta go before I get caught~ See ya later~” he flew outside a broken window in the back.

Lucifer watched him drifting away, the smile on his face soon faded. Uneasiness overwhelmed him.

He surely had some good time with Icarus, but something didn’t feel right.

He felt that Icarus was trying hard to get closer to him, to touch him. He felt that the other was… afraid. He decided not to talk about it and let everything be. He wondered whether it was because it’s their first time being _this close_ to each other, or that it was because of something he had done…

Either way he hoped Icarus would trust him enough to tell him, one day.

That aside, the uneasy feeling had another reason, a reason unknown.

Lucifer hated it.

…

_“Hey boss! You won’t believe this!”_

A man wearing an old, dark robe sighed. _“How many times did I tell you not to come in shouting like an idiot! You’re making your presence quite disturbing!”_

_“Ahh—I am sorry! But I couldn’t help it~ I found the thing you’ve been looking for!!!”_

The man’s eyes widened, _“… what?!”_

_“Yes! I saw it—not even alone—it was with another one as well!! All of that happened last night!!”_

_“… Tell me more! I hope this is not some sort of a joke or else I’ll snap your neck off your shoulders!”_

_The other man tensed up, “o, of course not! I even gathered some info! Believe me, you’ll like it.”_

 

As soon as Icarus exited the resting area, he found a bunch of other creatures already outside. No wonder, Harutomi informed them the other day that an important notice arrived from the Tower of Summoners. It stated that a new World Boss had appeared nearby!

A World Boss is a word referring to a group of five, overly powerful creatures that attack the human world for an unknown reason. The very first one appeared on its own. As soon as it was sealed away by powerful spells, another one followed, and then another, and another. Sadly, no matter how much the summoners have tried, all what they managed to do so far is weakening the creature and sealing them far away, using a different spell each time. When the five were finally sealed, one of them managed to break the spell, forcing the summoners to fight again, and so on. One would appear each time the other have fallen.

The longer it takes a World Boss to break the spell, the weaker it gets. Nevertheless, no one ever managed to _kill_ a World Boss before. A bunch of grand summoners tried to send them back to their world, but they failed.

Breaking through the barrier between both worlds is hard if a creature tried it on its own, even World Bosses were unable to waste so much energy to break through. The only reason a lot of creatures appeared in the human world is that _someone_ or _something_ opened a path for them to cross, but it had its energy limit. Such a strong creature as a World Boss is _never_ going to be able to cross it.

The tower suspected that a very strong mage is the one who’s responsible for all of this. However, the source of their energy and determination of taking over is unknown.

_“If those creatures, in particular, managed to escape all at once, we’re all going to be doomed.”_

That’s what the summoners have been told during their lecture back in the tower.

Harutomi gathered his strongest light attribute creatures and left early in the morning, his job was to weaken the Boss, alongside several other teams, until the spells are ready. It’d usually last for two days in normal cases.

However, forcing your creature to fight for two days straight is brutal and pure torture. Not to mention that the fight against a World Boss usually drains the creatures’ energy faster than normal. And so, the Tower gave each summoner a limit for fighting.

_“Creatures’ health and well-being is one of our most important priorities, after the citizen and summoners’ safety, of course.”_

Lucifer had to accompany his team, leaving Icarus alone. Fighting a World Boss was the creatures’ most hated activity, ever. Yet, Icarus thought that _maybe_ he can find something better to do to spend the day, alongside training, of course.

 _‘I want to be as strong as him! I am sure that if I train hard enough we’ll finally be equals!’_ his new ambition has changed ever since that day. He wanted to fight against Lucifer with full power, he didn’t want him to hold back anymore. But, there was something. Something _terrifying_ that made him rethink his new goal _a lot_. _‘What if… that happened again… will I be able to stand until the end?’_

He remembered when Lucifer used to be a newbie, Icarus had to teach him _everything_ he knew! He was the one to hold back when training with him.

But when Lucifer finally managed to beat him, Icarus realized that he’s become _much_ stronger than before. Actually, he realized that long ago, ever since that day, when the shimmering light caused by the summoning spell overwhelmed, he knew just what kind of a creature was going to arrive. He was sure that he wasn’t the only one who felt it. He just wanted to ignore the fact, until it was roughly thrown back into his face all, reminding him how arrogant he have been.

He recalled the scene. He recalled how he fell to his knees, scratches and cuts filling his body, and blood staining his pure-white clothes. It was okay to scratch your opponent _a little_ , but Lucifer _did_ go so far at one point and almost caused Icarus a very bad injury. To his luck, Icarus managed to dodge it.

He also recalled the look on Lucifer’s face. His expression was dull, his gaze was stern and full of hatred. He looked down on Icarus as if he was staring at a prey he was about to hunt. He was pointing his sharp spire near Icarus’ neck, at one point he felt the cold, pointed edge touching his skin.

All of that happened in a mere second, before Lucifer’s old personality took over as a bell rang by a young healer, announcing that the training period have ended. Upon seeing him like this, Lucifer couldn’t take it and ran away.

Icarus have been wondering, for the longest time, if Lucifer could have _killed_ him that day if the sudden ringing didn’t interrupt.

The healer, called Pyogrin, had to apologize a million of times to Icarus; saying that she was “asleep” during the training, and that she never imagined something as terrible to occur! Icarus was still _horrified_ by that; he couldn’t even feel the slightest bit of anger, he was shaking, and that scene had traumatized him for a while.

…

_‘Mr. Icarus! I apologize deeply for my defaulting. I… I have no idea what could have happened if the whisper of the wind didn’t reach my ears in the right time! Thank god you’re fine! We need to report to Mr. Harutomi about what Mr. Lucifer had done! He must be punished—,’_

Icarus was still _horrified_ by that; he couldn’t even feel the slightest bit of anger, he was shaking, and that scene had traumatized him for a while.

_‘No… don’t tell him…’ he coughed blood. Icarus didn’t moved an inch from where he fell._

_Pyogrin tensed upon seeing blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. ‘Oh god! I didn’t think your wounds were that deep!! I need to start healing you! Mr. Icarus!!’ she slammed the ground with her foot angrily, ‘Did you see that look in his eyes? He totally wasn’t planning on letting you go!! Look at yourself! Your condition is so bad…’_

_‘I… know. But, just listen to what I say. No matter what happens, don’t tell anyone, alright? Let me just… talk to him first… and solve this t, together…’_

_‘But—,’_

_‘Promise me, Pyogrin.’_

_‘… I… promise. But if that ever happened again I’ll have to report to Mr. Harutomi ASAP.’_

_‘Thank you.’ It was hard, but Icarus managed to offer a weak smile. ‘Come to think of it, where IS he?’_

_‘I think he left… what a coward!’ he raised an eyebrow, showing how annoyed she was, but immediately relaxed her face as she processed to heal the champion. ‘I’ll do as much as I can from here, but you will have to move to the healing area when I am finished. We’ll sneak you in, don’t worry.’ she smiled, still disturbed by what happened to him. Her magic can heal physical damage easily, but… when it comes to mental ones, they’re useless. She rested a hand on Icarus head to start the healing, the angel was still shaking and seemed on average of crying at any moment. She knew he was playing strong._

_…_

Honestly, Lucifer didn’t seem like a brutal person at all. He was indeed cold and awkward around others at first, then he obtained a sweet, loving personality that everyone adored. However when it comes to fighting, someone _had_ to be there to make sure he won’t go far again, and that’s what Icarus had promised himself to do. He was the only one, besides Pyogrin, that knew about it. About how Lucifer can _sometimes_ lose control. He wanted to make sure he won’t do it anymore, and so he fought his way back to the main team. The team which Harutomi usually take along when fighting. They’d only get separated when a dark World Boss appear, and that’s what left him with a terrible feeling of uneasiness today.

Icarus loved Lucifer, he truly did. He tried his best to not make him suspect anything last night. He tried to talk about that day before, but he just couldn’t put it into words. He knew he _had_ to, he just couldn’t. He theorized that Lucifer had some sort of _another personality_ that possess him _sometimes_ when fighting, how and when? He didn’t quite know. It only happened once, and honestly, Icarus prayed it won’t happen again. It’d be _really_ bad if that personality took over again when he’s gone fighting the World Boss.

Sometimes, when looking at Lucifer, he’d remember that person. However, he convinced himself that that person isn’t Lucifer. The one and only Lucifer he knows and loves is the one that came to him in the healing area, looking terrible. The one that was ashamed of what he had done; it was hard enough for him to even start speaking.

The real Lucifer is the one that was at a loss of words, the one who decided that it was useless to spit excuses and instead he gave Icarus a hug, surprising him. The one that placed a hand behind Icarus’ head, and another down his waist. The one that pulled him closer, resting his chin on his head. The one that could put the terrified Icarus at ease with a simple move.

The one that _cried_ for a solid minute, whispering _“I am sorry,”_ in a broken voice and shaking breaths.

…

_“H, hey… it’s okay—,”_

_“NO IT’S NOT!” the archangel sniffed, “I hurt you, you, so much. I, I could have—,”_

_“But you didn’t! You stopped at the very end!”_

_Lucifer took a deep breath “All what I remember is that halfway through our battle I passed out then woke up poisoned… like… that…” he withdrew his arms and wiped the tears off his face, using his sleeves. He sat next to Icarus on the bed._

_“I see.”_

_“Icarus, I am afraid. What if this happened again? It never happened before to me… I don’t understand.”_

_“Shh, it’s okay. You’ll be fine. You just gotta work on controlling yourself during battles, and I am sure that won’t happen again.” He smiled weakly, “also don’t worry, I’ll keep you from acting weird again.”_

_“You sure?”_

_“Yeah.” He placed a hand to Lucifer’s shoulder. “Oh and, I am not angry with you, nor I hate you.”_

_“That’s a relief.” The archangel smiled, “I’ll trust you with that, then.”_

…

It didn’t take long before Lucifer has taken a slightly different form after that. It’s normal for creatures when their bodies evolve and become able of absorbing more energy within it. His brown-slightly-red eyes changed into a shade of crimson. And he became a few inches taller. He’d tease Icarus sometimes about how _short_ he’s compared to him now. He also thought about changing his hairstyle to match the other changes, not to mention getting a new armor.

It was made of special fiber that was hard to torn—just like any normal steel armor, the only difference is that it’s lighter and isn’t affected by outside temperature; it’s kind of warm when touched, though.

But then leaders were changed, and Icarus was dismissed from the main team.

Icarus was depressed, and traumatized as well. Wasn’t he good enough? Wasn’t he worthy? He thought about running away at some point, but he remembered that there’s someone who needed him. Someone that trusted him. The thought itself was enough to keep him going. Even though, _that person_ was busy most of the time. _That person_ seemed fine without him. _That person scared the shit out of him, an accident gaze into his bloody-colored eyes could send chills down icarus’ spine_. He have been through a lot of conflict, and self-doubting. Until it was way too much for him to handle.

That person made him explode and spit everything inside him out.

That person made him open up for the first time about what he felt.

_That person comforted him and made him fall in love with him even more._

He thought he was over his fear from Lucifer’s other personality; judging by how he was mostly annoyed by discharging his position. But when he got over his depression, his fear was back. Was it triggered by being around Lucifer more? For _one single_ night? Were they meant to _never_ be together?

 _‘Unfair.’_ He bit his lips, a single tear streamed down his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for taking so long to update!! I had finals going and i thought i might post this when i am finished with them but nah screw physics i got all hyped to finish this chapter today after i got my very first couple of kudos and a comment!! thank you so much for the support <3 it means a lot~
> 
> it took me THREE HOURS to only proofread this (proofread = adding more stuff to the plot) aaahhh


	5. Angels Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's no escaping from going back to one's roots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check bottom Notes for characters appearances~

Around nightfall, Harutomi’s creatures got a notice delivered by the Ghoul Witch, Loomie, politely asking them to use the wrap stone and stay inside their resting areas for the day. He also put Kunlun, the eldest creature he had, in charge to make sure everyone is inside safely. Tsubaki was the one to take care of the healing area and lock it using a spell only healing creatures learned. And lastly, it noted that he’s not coming back—nor his light team—until the morning.

Half an hour later, everything was done as ordered by the summoner. Kunlun awaited Tsubaki until she was done and made sure she gone inside her water attribute area. He swiped his hand over the wrap stone; some data appeared as he did. Several small screens appeared as well, each one showing a part of what the main wrap stone was connected to.

Five screens for each attribute area, one for the healing area, one for the summoner’s home, and several others connected to other areas Harutomi set for himself to shorten traveling to places he already visited before, or so. Kunlun was only interested in the attribute screens; he tapped one of them and thus the screen grew bigger, positioned in the middle, sending the smaller ones to a side.

It was for the light attribute.

A scene played, as if there was a camera hanged in the air, recording what was going on inside each area. Of course Kunlun didn’t wander with the “camera” too much, he only cared about the creature count that displayed on the bottom left corner of the screen. Once he made sure the amount is correct, he moved to the next attribute screen, and then the next, and next. Until it was the wood screen turn.

The number was red; which meant that someone was missing. If it was green then it’s full, but it was wasn’t.

Kunlun swiped his hand more to get more info, _‘who’s missing?’_ he whispered. A name appeared for him. As soon as he learnt who’s the missing member was, he immediately turned and attempted to cast a searching spell. Fortunately, the missing creature was standing right behind him.

“…”

It was Sophia.

“Where have you been?”

“…” no response.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“…” she looked down. Kunlun approached the green sorceress.

“Are you upset I didn’t notice you didn’t come until now?” he chuckled a bit, his smile fell as he got no response, again.

He patted her shoulder. “I understand if you don’t want to talk. Kids tend to hide so much, huh?” he smiled. “C’mon, raise your head and go to your place before your friends get worried ov— Sophia?”

She sobbed

* * *

 

Next morning, Karina woke up as energetic as ever. She stretched her arms, “the weather is nice today!” she exclaimed. “A new day to practice shooting some apples! Hoho! I can even try catching something to eat besides fruit!” se grinned, “I am so excited!”

“Yeah we _all_ noticed that.”

The archer turned, “Angela! Good morning!”

“Good morning. I see you’re in a good mood today.” Said the young, pink-haired angel.

“Yes! I am going to do some hunt today!”

“H, hunt? I hope you’re not trying something that may have bad consequences upon you…”

“Nah, don’t worry! I’ll be careful this time!”

“Alright. See you later.”

“Wait. Have you seen Sophia around? She usually gets up before I do.”

“I am sorry but I haven’t seen her all day yesterday.”

“All the day! That’s weird because she was with me most of the time but around the evening she was gone! I thought she was off doing some of her sorceress stuff…”

“I don’t think she came back to the resting area that day, though. I was wandering nearby and I didn’t spot her at all. I wanted to talk to her about something but she never came back!”

Karina bite her lower lip.

Angela tensed up as she noticed that other seemed _dead_ worried over her friend, “h, hey! I am sure she came back later! I got inside earlier before most of the others! She must’ve came later!”

“…”

“I, I know! Why don’t we go ask Kunlun! His job was to make sure we’re all inside safely! He could never skip over Sophia!”

“I don’t know…”

“C’mon!” she grabbed Karina’s hand and pulled her over, “let’s go— oh,” she bumped into someone. “Sorry—oh! Sophia! Thank god we found you! This fellow was about to faint from over-worrying here.”

“Sophia!!” she gave the sorceress a quick hug, “where have you been?”

“I… had things to do…”

As the two talked, Angela had excused herself and walked away. She, too, had someone to look for.

* * *

 

The young angel walked inside the woods nearby, she wondered if Harutomi was back yet or not; she haven’t seen his team, after all. A while later, she found a lake. Its water was shimmering and it seemed clear. The thought of the lake’s water made her heart skip a beat. She smiled and dipped into the chill water. Being the little messy angel she is—not to mention her trust issues—she didn’t even bother taking off her clothes before getting herself all wet. “Aahh~ what a nice weather for a good bath~” she exclaimed.

“The _hell_ you’re doing here?” an angry voice broke Angela’s relaxation time.

She grinned and looked behind her, “why hello there~ Ruru~ did you want to bath too?” she moved her hand and splashed some water near Icarus’ feet. “Too bad I came here first~ but, since I am a nice older sister I’ll let you join me~” she looked again at him, eyes narrowed and smirking.

Icarus was furious, “first of all, I am _not_ your _younger_ brother! And second, _don’t_ call _me_ ‘Ruru’ again! How many times am I supposed to repeat myself?”

“Shh look at you~ your face is completely red~ could it be?” she chuckled, “could it be that you _like me_?”

“THE HELL? ARE YOU EVEN LIST— _buff_ ,” she splashed water at him again. This time, in his face. Angrily, he wiped his face, “what was that even for?”

“Didn’t they teach you not to yell at a lady? Especially if it was _me_?”

“Forget it, I am at fault for talking with you in the first place! I am leav—,” before he could move, Angela gestured with her hand in the air. Using her water magic, she wrapped water around Icarus’ body like a robe.

“Wait—,” he struggled to free himself, “no! nonononononononoooo!”

She gestured again and Icarus was thrown into the lake.

She laughed, “yay~ you finally gave in~”

Icarus arose from under the water surface and dashed to attack Angela, “why you!”

Angela laughed again and grabbed Icarus wrists, stopping him from moving them near her. She used her magic once more to apply more pressure in the water surrounding Icarus’ bottom half; causing him to be unable to kick inside water.

Icarus was froze in place. He struggled a little more before giving up; he could never hurt Angela—even if she got on his nerve sometimes. Not to mention that she’s the strongest when inside water.

He inhaled.

“That’s it~ good boy~” she let go of his wrists, freed his body, and finally, patted him on the head.

Icarus seemed annoyed, but not as angry as he was few seconds ago. “You know, I could easily use _my_ wood magic and let the earth absorb this entire lake’s water…”

“Then why you didn’t?”

“I just didn’t feel like it…”

“You don’t seem like you want to do a lot of things, lately. I noticed that.”

Icarus didn’t respond.

“It’s good to rest your mind from overthinking from time to time! So~ it’s your chance now, Ruru~”

Icarus didn’t react to the nickname this time. Instead, he did as told and closed his eyes. He rested his back to the lake’s edge, and so did Angela.

She moved herself a little to settle besides Icarus. Her hand moved underwater and grabbed his. When he didn’t react negatively to the touch, she closed her eyes as well and leaned to his side.

The two of them were born on the same day.

Wait, you don’t know how angels are born? Well, I’ll tell you my theory: they’re born from light.

* * *

 

 

Angels, here, are all born from light, shiny spirits of light. And thus, they’re all classified as light creatures.

However, the reason why Angela is a water angel, and Icarus is a wood angel is because the light spirit that they were supposed to be born from divided into two halves. It’s normal to happen, though. In normal cases it’d result in having a twin angels.

Nevertheless, the halves exposure strange circumstances. No one was able to explain why, but instead of floating to where the light was supposed to stay to turn into little angels, the halves dropped as soon as the original light spirit split.

It was strange, but it felt as if some strange power was calling for it, pulling it downwards. That strange power was stronger than the one leading the light spirits to the “hatching” room.

Adult angels that were responsible to care for light spirits and young angels— _The Caring Ones_ — thought that spirit was lost forever.  They traced where it could have dropping, and looked for the halves _everywhere_. But they got no luck in finding them.

Several years later they were informed that the spirit was found. And the halves hatched into young, new angels.

The Caring Ones took the angel twin and brought them back to their original land—hidden high in the sky, between thick, white clouds.

They knew they were special—or rather, different. They couldn’t master the light magic _at all_ no matter how long they tried to train them. Spells used upon newbie angels to teach them how to fly and to start controlling light energy never worked on them, too.

The Caring Ones were worried that these two aren’t _real_ angels—but there was no doubting that they were born from that long-lost light spirit. They had the looks of an ordinary angel—they even had the aura of a one.

They were clueless about how to deal with these two, until one Caring angel stepped in, deciding to search their case closely.

That Caring One—Asriel—took the young angels and traveled downward—to where they were originally found.

Asriel spent several months with the two angels, he took care of them as if he was their parent. He even named them— Angela and Icarus. Angels aren’t named like how humans do. Actually, when they reached a specified age, each angel is put to face a challenge to measure their strength. After succeeding, they become independent and leave care area.

The first challenge is to fly all the way up the tallest mountain in their cloud land. Said mountain has no connection to earth—its base is located on a far gathering of thicker-than-usual clouds, after they reach the topmost, they’ll find a temple. Inside of it is the rest of their challenges.

After everything is done, their name is announced through huge trumpet—of course there was specialized angels to do that. Each angel has the right to name themselves the way they like, that or make the trumpet angel do it for them.

Despite all of that, Icarus and Angela couldn’t do that because they were suspected as a whole different species that the angels didn’t learn of before.

But that one angel, that one _curious_ angel, believed in them. Asriel believed that these two held some sort of special power that yet needs to be uncovered.

As the three angels reached the place where Icarus hatched, Asriel found something interesting there—it was the remaining of the light spirit Icarus hatched from. The reason why the remaining existed until now is because that the leaves, or rather, the entire area—where the spirit was—had absorbed it. A part of the forest now is glowing in a bright color of gold mixed with a faint shade of green.

When they gone to where Angela hatched, he found _an entire_ lake glowing with the power of the light spirit that fell into it. He wondered if this existed back when the angels came here to pick both Angela and Icarus. But, it’s impossible that they ignored such an important thing by accident. Or that they didn’t _at least_ tell about what they saw to others.

He became so interested in this case he decided to stay here as long as it takes. Weeks later he took the little angels to bath, he started with Icarus since Angela asked him to be second. As he was busy playing with him, Angela waited aside. She didn’t feel well that day.

Both her and Icarus still didn’t learn how to use their wings—since the spell that was supposed to teach them didn’t work. She envied those other angels back in the cloud land. They could fly, they could use magic, they were super strong, and then there she was—well, and Icarus as well.

Asriel told them that they were born from the same light spirit, however, they didn’t act like siblings at all. They barely ever talked.

Angela was tired; she lied down. She watched Asriel playing with Icarus and laughed a bit. Maybe, their life like that wasn’t so bad. After all, Asriel cared for them deeply; they both loved him so much.

Suddenly, she heard something— _someone_ calling her name. It’s strange, no one knew her name at all besides Asriel and Icarus. She got up, trying to trace the voice source. She walked through the woods; the voice kept getting stronger and stronger.

Then it paused.

“Wait! Come back!” she called, her tiny feet dragging her throughout the woods. She looked back, oh no! She lost her way! “What am I gonna do now? Asriel! Icarus!” she called and called, but no one answered.

“Mister Voice! Please come back!” she bumped into a branch on the ground and lost her footing. She fell down a hill and was stopped by a giant tree; her head hit the trunk of the tree violently.

She got up slowly, tears streaming down her face. She sobbed and cried Asriel’s name many times.

_“Poor thing.”_

She heard a voice. “Who’s there? Asriel?”

_“Follow me~”_

“No, I want to go back home… I want to go back to Asriel and Icarus…” she sobbed.

As she said that, a path opened to her through the trees. Light shimmered through it until it covered Angela completely. She closed her eyes due that.

_“Come closer. Fright not, my darling.”_

Slowly, she walked towards the path. She found herself in a familiar place. “Th, this lake…”

_“Yes! You remembered it! It’s where you were born~ this is your birthplace. **This is your home**.” _

“Wh, what? My home isn’t here! It’s up there!” she pointed at the sky.

_“You don’t understand, do you? **This** is your land. Didn’t you ever question yourself why you couldn’t use light magic?”_

“How did you know that?”

_“It’s obvious, and I’ll tell you why. **You’re not a normal angel. You’re not a light angel.** ”_

“Then… what am I?

_“Hohoho~ look around you~ unlike other angels that were born from pure light cores, **you and him** aren’t. You were born in the heart of this lake. And you know what else was supposed to be born too the day you fell down? Yes, **another water creatures.** A creature that belonged to this holy lake.”_

“… What happened to that creature?”

_“Sadly, the spirit wasn’t strong enough. It was literally dying. Actually, this spirit wasn’t alone. The balance of these woods was crumbling. Everything refused to be done correctly. Many spirits died because of it. But this water spirit refused to die easily. It called for help. It kept calling and calling, until **you** answered its call and came to help.”_

“I don’t understand…”

_“I’ll tell you everything detailed, but first, why don’t you look behind?”_

Angela heard some shuffled noise behind her, when she looked; she found Asriel holding Icarus in his arm. She ran to them, hugging the older angel tightly. He held her as well and stepped closer to the voice source. “When I looked back I couldn’t find you, and then Icarus started acting weird. He said he was hearing some sort of a voice calling him, and when we followed it together we found you here.” The older angel smiled.

_“So, when your light core approached the dying water spirit, it offered to help it. The Water spirit desperately agreed and thus **you absorbed it and it became a part of you.** The same thing happened to you, Icarus.”_

“M, me too?”

_“Yes, this time, a wood spirit was as determined as the water spirit. It called and you answered. As soon as you approached it, the spirit shattered and allowed you to absorb it. You both do realize what that means, right?”_

“You’re a mix of two attributes!” Asriel exclaimed. “But, if that was true, why couldn’t they use the light magic at all? Even though they’re typically half-light creatures?”

_“Well, I said before that this forest’s balance is in disorder, and thus, not only one spirit called, and not only one spirit was absorbed that day. Honestly, when the light spirit fell here, it wasn’t a full one, right? I could feel it. It was split into two halves and didn’t stay long like that to gain more power so both halves can equal a normal full spirit. Am I right?”_

“When you think about it… I remember that as soon as that spirit was divided, it started acting weird and fell down… so yes, it indeed didn’t have the time to absorb more light energy before it disappeared into this forest.”

_“So yes, afterward, new little creatures were born. One with the power of wood and the other with the power of water. Absorbing way too much of these attribute spirits made the water and wood magic take over the light one.”_

“Wait a second!” Asriel spoke, “could that be why they couldn’t control light at all? And… can that also mean that—,”

_“They’re both now water and wood angels. Which means, they can master the magic of wood and water instead of light. Well, they **can** use light magic, but… it’d be very hard. Absorbing the dying spirits back then saved the forest for some while, however, the disorder is still a threat to us all. And you, whom lives upon the clouds, didn’t feel it yet, did you? **You must go back and warn your people.** If the disorder ruined these forests, it won’t take long for the skies to crumble as well.”_

“I don’t understand…” spoke Icarus. “Why is the forest dying? When I opened my eyes for the first time I could hear the faint cries of the forest spirits… you did too, Angela. Right?”

She nodded. “Yes. The water creatures around me were begging for help. From who? I don’t really know…”

“Maybe, they meant you two.” Asriel smiled gently. “I think you were born like this for a reason, and the reason is to save these forests from its turmoil. This is great!” he exclaimed, “This is exactly why we came here!”

“So now we can use magic too?” said Angela.

“And save this forest!” smiled Icarus.

Despite all of that, their short happy moment was disturbed by a sudden earthquake. Before he could lose his footing, Asriel flapped his wings and flew few centimeters away from the ground. The trees started to disappear, one by one. The animals run away in terror, and the water was suck into a typhoon that was created nearby in an instant.

_“It’s too late! Way too late!”_ cried the voice. _“This forest is done for! Quick! Get out of here!”_

“But, what about you?” said Asriel as he started to fly upwards. “Show yourself! I can help you escape with us!”

_“I cannot do that. **I am the forest itself;** I am connected to this place. I used all left of my powers to call you here. Please, don’t let anymore worlds crumble like what happened to us. **I beg of you.** ”_

“This is… hard to promise,” murmured Asriel.

“We’ll try our best!” shouted Angela as they flew higher.

“Yes! We promise we’ll find a way to get you back!” shouted Icarus in return.

_“Thank you, but I don’t think this can be done. However, before you leave, take this. I still had more to say, sadly, I don’t have much time left.”_ A glowing crystal floated to them, Angela wrapped her tiny arms around it carefully. _“When you’re back to your land, give this crystal a rub and blow air into it. It shall open and reveal its content.”_

As that was said, a dark void appeared under the forest. It sucked _everything_ inside it in a blink. And the sky started to roar. Asriel knew it was useless to fly in such condition, he used a wrap spell to instantly go back to their land.

As they returned, they noticed that other angels were in terror of what had happened to the world underneath them. Asriel quickly took the crystal and informed the others of what he have been told by the forest spirit.

When he tried to rub and blow on the crystal, nothing happened. Angela and Icarus—who followed him without he noticed—asked to try it instead. Asriel agreed.

They rubbed the crystal together and blew air on it. Surprisingly, their breath was loaded with magic that twisted around the crystal and made it glow. It didn’t take much before it shattered into a million of pieces and the following message was heard:

_“Dear sky residents, you’re in danger. The balance of this world is crumbling, as what you have possibly noticed by now. You need to leave this place as soon as you can! A portal was opened nearby, if you looked towards the east you’ll find it behind the great cloud mountain. Hurry up and go there! It’ll take you to another world that’s not affected by the disorder. Don’t waste time by warning others, it’s too late. The forest died. But long before that—underworld creatures have disappeared. We didn’t even care enough—we were dense. And now look at us. The disorder slowly took the underworld and then it moved to the surface world—us. And now it’s your turn! Don’t waste much more time. Be safe.”_

The tiny pieces disappeared into thin air.

* * *

 

The angels succeeded in running away from the disaster that followed their world. They found themselves in another world with no angels in it. It only had normal light creatures. The angels found a place and called it their home. They started to build a new land from scratch.

The two angels stayed with them for a couple of years to help. However, they knew they had to leave soon.

Angela was labeled as a water creature, and Icarus a wood one. Yet, they were welcomed to live alongside angels normally. They kindly dismissed their offer. Saying that they want to learn more about their powers and how to use their magic. Asriel wanted to join them, but they said that both will take their own way from now on.

“I understand that you want to leave… you’ve grown so fast! I… I shouldn’t be so selfish and ask you to stay. I mean, you learned how to use your wings by now; travelling should be as easy!” he smiled and hung his sight to the ground. “Oh, well…” he stepped closer, leaned on one knee and hugged the little angels. “I’ll miss you… so, _so_ much.” He murmured.

The two said their goodbyes to Asriel as they left.

On his trip, Icarus was suddenly called by a strange voice.  He remembered what happened to him in that forest and decided to answer the call. He didn’t do anything but decide to answer in his heart; and suddenly he was overwhelmed by strong light. When he opened his eyes her found himself in a strange place. And that’s when he met Harutomi for the first time.

He promised him that he’ll get to make him stronger, Icarus couldn’t deny such an offer. In return, he had to accompany Harutomi on his adventures.

Months later, the same happened to Angela.

Icarus was annoyed by her presence more than ever. He always considered her a rival, he hated when other angels called them siblings. Both him and her were the only _different_ ones there, he somewhat considered it a competition to see which is the best.

He guessed that she felt the same, but he never bothered to ask. Whether she cared for him or not. Whether if _he_ cared for her or not. It didn’t matter.

_He’s a wood creature, while she’s a water one_. Being siblings with _that_ much difference bothered him. So he thought that he might as well consider her a stranger.

At first, she didn’t bother _trying_ to talk to him. But later, she started to act more confident around him for some reason. She’d start a conversation from here, tease him from there. She treated him as if he was someone she knew for years—which would be a lie if told. She barely lived around him when they learned about the disorder in that crumbled world, otherwise, they both never cared to talk before.

What was she thinking? He simply didn’t _want_ know.

Icarus slowly opened his eyes, bright blue sky welcomed him. The breeze was nice and… something heavy was resting on his shoulder?

When he looked it was her, Angela, who else could it be?

“Heeeeyyy!” he moved away from her; her face almost fell down into the water, but she opened her eyes and adjusted herself just in time.

“Be gentler, can you? Is that how you treat someone who did you a favor?” she rubbed her eyes sleepily, as if she just woke up from night slumber. “I was enjoying my time for _once_ in so long!”

“Well, too bad. Nobody told you to enjoy your time _one my shoulder_.” He got up and moved outside the lake. He used his wood magic to absorb water off his body, clothes, and wings in an instant. “And, what kind of favor are you talking about?”

“I made you relax, obviously. Don’t event dare lie to me, you face told everything. You seriously needed that and I was being nice.”

“Why, thank you, Miss I-think-about-others-twenty-four-hours-a-day Angela.” He pouted.

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. Being used to Icarus’ childish attitude around her made her not bother with the long new nickname. She actually thought it was funny.  “You should go back.” She added, in a calmer tone.

“What? To where?”

“Go back home, you idiot!” she cleared her throat. “I mean, Harutomi must be back by now.”

Icarus eyes widened. “You’re right! Shoot!” He flapped his wings and dashed away.

Angela watched him go with sad eyes.

* * *

 

Excited little Icarus approached the meeting area where the main wrap stone existed. He looked around him, yes, light team was here! They looked exhausted, though.

His heart skipped a beat in an aching matter when he couldn’t find Lucifer among the creatures outside the wrap stone.

“Hey, Icarus. Can you come here for a sec?” called Harutomi from behind.

Icarus tensed up and swallowed thickly, his pulse was fast. “I, is something wrong?”

“Ah, don’t worry. It’s not a big deal. I just want you for a little mission, are you free?”

“O, of course I am!”

“Great. I want you to join Tsubaki and go to the healing area. _You’re needed there_.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll understand everything as you go. So please now, hurry.” He looked serious when he said so. His tone sent chills down Icarus’ spine.

When Icarus looked at the wrap stone, he found Tsubaki waiting for him. He approached her.

“Hey there~ long time no see, huh?” she smiled at him, however, Icarus felt that something was off about that smile.

She took his hand and whispered. The stone reacted and glowed, sucking them into the healing area.

Tsubaki let go his hand and moved away, Icarus didn’t bother looking at what she’s doing; he was in shock.

In front of him, on one of the beds, lied Lucifer. He looked so in pain; his hand clutched to his chest, moaning.

“Wh, what happened?” _‘I knew I shouldn’t have let him go!’_

Tsubaki paused, as if she hesitated to answer. “Please, go to him. He needs you… well, at least that’s what he said.”

The champion was clueless. _‘Just what happened exactly? TELL ME!’_ his thoughts panicked. He stared at Lucifer and couldn’t move. Until, Tsubaki held his hand and dragged him gently towards the archangel.

“I know it’s hard to see someone you care about in such state—I, myself, don’t know why he needed _you_ in particular. But if that was what he needed, then I had no choice but to bring you.”

“But, why? Why didn’t you heal him normally yet?”

“Me? You know I can’t.” She stopped as they reached the bed where Lucifer was suffering, letting Icarus’ hand go.

Lucifer barely managed to open his eyes. “I, Icarus?” he stretched his hand weakly to who he thought was Icarus.

“Yes! Yes, I am here!” he grabbed the hand stretched to him and leaned in.

“I am glad you’re finally here.” He smiled, weakly moved his hand to cup Icarus’ cheek.

Icarus touched the hand rested on his cheek, it was cold. “Tell me what happened.”

“Nah, nothing important. It’s just the habit of World Bosses to attack the strongest first. I let my guard down and received a strong hit. Haha, careless, I know.” His hand dropped and clutched to the bed side, he squeezed it hard as he groaned due to pain.

He looked back at Tsubaki, “please! Call Aramode! Isn’t she a light healer?”

“She tried, but no luck,” said Lucifer.

“Doctor Hua?”

“Ugh,” pain strike again. He reached to grab something, anything near him and squeeze it. The pain was unbearable; he clutched into a mushy object and squeezed it. It was Icarus’ arm, his nails dug into his skin, but Icarus didn’t react. “He tried, too.”

Icarus helplessly watched as Lucifer was suffering before him. He didn’t know what to do anymore. If light healers can’t help him, then who could? The hand clutched to his arm kept squeezing harder, Icarus felt as if this was the only way he can help him ease his pain.

_“It’s just the habit of World Bosses to attack the strongest first.”_ Lucifer’s words rang in his ears. “ _I let my guard down and received a strong hit.”_

_‘The boss they fought was a dark creature… which means… Lucifer was injured by dark energy.’_ Icarus thought. “That’s it!” he exclaimed.” Tsubaki! Call Won Sul!”

“Wh, what?”

“Quick! I’ll explain it later!”

“Understood.” She sent a message to her fellow dark healer, asking him to come.

The only dark healer Harutomi had, Agent Won Sul.

In an instant he was in. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. He asked me to call you.” She pointed at Icarus.

The two healers moved to where the angel duo were.  “Lucifer, light creature, was hit by a dark attack, isn’t that right?”

“Well, That’s what I’ve heard when he was brought here.” Said Won Sul. “What does this have to do with me? I can’t possibly heal him, you know.”

“I have a crazy idea, but it’s worth trying. Well you help me?” he looked at the healer with eyes filled with determination. Won Sul nodded; he couldn’t dismiss such an offer, after all.

He stepped in, stretched his arms in the air, above Lucifer, and started chanting his healing spell.

When they gave it a better look, Lucifer, indeed, was surrounded by dark aura. As soon as the healing started, the aura started to waver violently.

Icarus moved the hand clutched to his arm and held it instead. His other free hand moved to stroke Lucifer’s hair gently. He leaned in and whispered, _“You’ll be fine.”_

Lucifer seemed to ease a bit to the touch and whisper. As the healing continued, the aura seemed to start vanishing. Nevertheless, the pain didn’t seem like it was planning to vanish alongside. To his luck, it didn’t take much for the healing to end, at least now Lucifer won’t suffer from dark energy.

As Won Sul finished; Lucifer passed out.  “I think we should get Doctor Hua or Aramode to finish this up. It seems that dark energy seeped through him, for some reason. However, I healed that effect of the dark magic. His body is still injured by the attack itself. It’s up to light healers to deal with it, now.”

“Yes. Thank you very much~ I am so glad we could help him!” said Tsubaki, happily.

He glanced at Icarus—who was busy nuzzling Lucifer’s unconscious face—then back at Tsubaki. “We should leave them for now.” He moved to stand beside her.

Tsubaki chuckled, “we might as well call for light healers as we go out of here.” She leaned close to Won Sul, “we should warn them not to disturb these love birds.” She whispered. “Now I know why he wanted to see Icarus in particular.”

Wonn Sul chuckled as he left alongside Tsubaki.

A while later, Doctor Hua arrived and finished healing Lucifer who was still unconscious.

* * *

 

“So, he’s fine?”

“Yes~ well, he should be~” breathed the water healer, happily.

“Thank god~” breathed Harutomi in relief. “Thank you for your hard work, Tsubaki.”

“No need to thank~ I’ll be going now~”  

And with that, Harutomi was left to think about what had happened today.

_‘It’s just… so weird…’_ there’s no such as thing called “accidentally absorbing enemy’s energy”. _‘It can’t be possible… unless—,’_

“Harutomi….” A faint voice called for him.

The summoner turned to face the wood sorceress, Sophia. “Why hello there. Did you need me in something?

“Yes… about my sisters…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think of the balance of the story so far? should i focus more on romance? or let it be the way it is? put in mind i started this work aiming to focus more on the plot~ however, lucirus relationship is supposed to shine soon~ just not right now ;^)))
> 
> Also, who imagined Angela's personality would turn out like this? hah, not me~ my hands are the ones who write this fanfic, honestly, not me lmao idk where most of this plot even came from~

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters will update when they're ready///// thank u for always reading my updates///// feed back/comments/kudos are appreciated much
> 
> If anyone is having a trouble with too many characters mentioned in this work, pls check the following link:
> 
> fukamiin.tumblr.com/ficchara
> 
> (characters not mentioned there are made up or not important enough lmao)


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